Interpretive Essay on Edward Taylor's Poem, Huswifery

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Interpretive Essay on Edward Taylor's Poem, Huswifery

In the poem, Huswifery, by Edward Taylor, a very severe shift seems to take place. The poem begins with an analogy between the writer and a spinning wheel. However, at the end of the poem suddenly he is no longer the spinning wheel, he is now a man wearing the cloth that was spun by the spinning wheel. How could the main analogy of the poem shift so drastically? Actually, upon closer inspection, the shift does not seem so bizarre. The main idea of the poem is followed through from beginning to end. It is the story of a man who is truly devoted to the Lord and how his relationship with the Lord evolves from the point where he is seeking God in his life to the point where he has found him and become a changed man. As the man changes, the analogy within the poem must naturally evolve to keep up with his changes.

In the first line, Edward Taylor asks that God be the master spinner behind his spinning wheel self which indicates his desire for the Lord to take control of his life and to use that life to create what He will. He then expounds upon this idea by incorporating many of the parts of a spinning wheel into the analogy. Taylor asks that all that he believes come from the Holy Word (his distaff) and that all that he longs for be kept in line with the Lord's wishes by His "swift flyers". He wants his conversation to spring forth from that which the Lord is creating in him, just as the thread, once spun, does not change in nature as it is wound around the reel. Essentially, in this stanza, he is saying: Lord, take me and mold my heart for I am Yours.

The second stanza starts off saying much the same thing. It expands upon the idea of wanting the Lord to mold his heart an...

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...to others and bringing others to devote their lives to God as well. And so, in the third stanza the spinning wheel is completely dropped out of the poem which makes sense, for once a machine's work is complete, there is no longer a need for that machine. In essence, he's saying that his life was just a machine for serving and creating hearts devoted to God. Now that this purpose is complete, it is time for him to pass on. But he asks one thing of the Lord. Though his earthly body and life may pass away, he wishes for his eternal soul, for all that truly makes up who he is to be clothed with the virtues the Lord has instilled in him. This is so that his "apparel shall display before [God]" that he is "clothed in holy robes for glory." In other words, he has done his best, followed the Lord all his life, and now he is ready to be taken to his eternal reward in Heaven.

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